Just keep spinning

Just keep spinning.

Dave Barrett of Greenfield loves his spin class participants at the Adair County Health and Fitness Center, and it’s clear they love him.

For four mornings a week, Barrett is a welcoming face to those who are serious about getting their heart rate going to the beat of the music by way of their feet and two pedals on stationary bicycles.

“This is great cardio, great for the legs. I have started some weights in with it also that we warm up with too, so we’re also working on the upper body,” Barrett said. “You can come in here, we get the lights turned down, get the music blasting, and everybody gets in a groove and away we go.”

According to Barrett, spin class groups will burn an average of 550 calories in a half hour. They will travel 13 to 15 miles without even leaving the room.

Barrett has been teaching spin class for about a year. He never had this on his radar, however he was asked one day if he’d consider teaching spin class after he was working out on a bike.

“I’ve been coming out to the gym for about five years now. If the weights were full, I’d come in here and get on a bike,” Barrett said. “I got started on it that way.”

Having not taken part in a class himself, Barrett drove to Waukee a couple of times, where he joined a spin class to get the hang of it. The fitness center also covered the cost for Barrett to become certified to teach the class. That required some online training.

The biggest thing to the class is proper bike setup, Barrett explained. One the bike is set up well, that removes many concerns about knee and lower back issues from riding.

“If someone will, say, come and do two classes with you, then they’re going to get addicted to it about like I am,” Barrett said. “Those seats are hard at first but we did get padding for all of them and that’s helped them a bunch.”

Last spring, it looked like Barrett wouldn’t get to teach the class he loves for very much longer.

“The doctors said I could coach, but I couldn’t ride with them,” Barrett said. “That was about the middle of May.”

Without any symptoms or warning whatsoever, doctors told Barrett he had heart blockage that would require surgery. In fact, it quadruple bypass surgery June 28.

“Within a month, I was back in here coaching,” Barrett said. “I kept doing a little more, and now I’m back riding with them full-time.”

Barrett bases his class on that if you ride to music that is 70 beats per minute for 30 minutes, you’ll go 10 miles and burn 300 calories. He picks the playlist with the help of participants, and they vary the tempo throughout the class.

“If we decide we want to climb hills we’ll get a little slower tempo and harder beat song,” Barrett said. “We start out with our weights, then we start out slow and we just keep picking it up.”

What did it feel like when Barrett was able to return to the bike after his health scare?

“Like going to heaven,” he said. “I really missed it a lot. That was a very, very good feeling. I’ve really gotten to know the people that come in here and they’re a lot of fun to work with.

“On a morning where I’ve got seven or eight in here, they get to hoopin’ and hollerin’ and we turn the music up louder, it’s a lot of fun.”

Spin classes are offered 5:15 a.m. Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 5:15 a.m. Fridays and 8:30 a.m. Saturdays.

Barrett works full-time in the safety department at Schildberg Construction.